Flipkart Co-Founder and Chairman visits Akshaya Patra Kitchen

Mr Bansal distributes chocolates to children of Akshaya Patra beneficiary school, Government Higher Primary School, Konunkunte, Bengaluru.

Mr Sachin Bansal (fifth from right), Co-founder and Chairman, Flipkart, poses with Team Akshaya Patra for the camera.

The kids of Government Higher Primary School, Konunkunte, Bengaluru, queue up eagerly for their lunch, served by Mr Bansal.

Mr Bansal interacting with members of Team Akshaya Patra to know the workings of the organization.

For more details, visit: Sachin Bansal visits Akshaya Patra kitchen

Akshaya Patra Releases its Annual Report for 2015-16!

Akshaya Patra’s Annual Report for the year 2015-16 is out! Titled The Passioneers – Bound By Purpose. Driven By Passion, the report celebrates the dedication and toils of the people working behind-the-scenes. These are the people who make the organisation and ensure its smooth workings with their diligent efforts. The report details the financials and highlights of the year 2015-16, along with outlining the Foundation’s vision and mission, achievements, future plans and awards and recognitions it has received. Read it now!

https://blog.akshayapatra.org/the-passioneers-celebrating-the-passion-that-drives-akshaya-patra/

What is Value-based Education Programme?

Imagine a classroom of students learning the importance of love, peace, respect and other values. Now imagine a classroom looking into their textbooks to understand Newton’s Prism Experiment and moving on to the next subject. If you look at the larger picture – by combining both of these – you will be able to imagine a classroom full of students who are not only learning enthusiasts but also leaders of the future who will be able to spread love and kindness.

Embedding moral values in a student’s daily life brings happiness in school as well as at home. Building relationships through these values becomes easy. Often, students begin to learn values at home and then carry it to their work atmosphere. However, if we have to teach the students, it is the teachers who must be trained first. Many organisations including UNESCO, ACTS and others, have created training material that highlights the importance of value education and how it can be developed as part of syllabus.

What are the values?

According to the framework created by NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training), values are defined as something that ‘regulate and guide human behaviour and action in our day to daily life.’

We would like to highlight 3 values that are important for every child:

1. Peace

One of the main values is creating peace amongst us. When we build peace within our environment, there is a greater opportunity to foster other values as well because all other values are rooted in peace. Akshaya Patra, a charity for children, supports peace by providing access to healthy food. Lack of food may cause insecurity and therefore, contribute to a hostile environment. By providing food with help from charity fundraising, Akshaya Patra promotes peace. 

2. Trust

Believing in someone does not come easy. For you trust someone, that person must have built this value through actions and words. Similarly, for someone to trust you, your actions and words must speak. This value, unfortunately, is most difficult when tried to inculcate among the elders. 

3. Respect

How often have we heard or said ‘Give respect and take respect’? Maybe it’s a line that never gets old but the message it has will always stay strong. Respect is a universal human value towards not just our race but to nature, planet and everything that surrounds us.

The NCERT report says, ‘If we try noticing what a person does in spare time when he or she is not being coaxed or threatened to do a particular activity, we may get some ideas about what he/she values.’ Let’s bring value education into the classroom and fill the student’s mind with values – values that will help protect the planet, values that will help in spreading joy and values that will help in respecting the elders.

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Akshaya Patra is an NGO that provides mid-day meals to over 1.6 million children every day. You can sponsor a child and receive 100% tax exemption as per section 80G of income tax act.

How Effective are Food for Education Programmes

If you’re reading this, you should call yourself fortunate. If going back home reminds you of delicious home-cooked food, you should call yourself fortunate. You’re fortunate because you’ve had the opportunity to learn and you’ve always got a tiffin box to carry in your bag or some money in the pocket for buying lunch.

Not many know that India is a home to 33% of world’s undernourished children. How can we not think of helping them? When you’ve more than you need, you should build a bigger table, not a higher fence. Seeing the present context, we need more supporters and food for education programs to get down to showing deep concern, spreading awareness, donating funds and providing healthy meals as an incentive to boost enrolment.

Akshaya Patra recently published its NGO annual report 2015-16 which gives insights into how the organisation reaches out to millions of children. Here’s how Akshaya Patra set forth in the path of reaching out to millions of children and are changing their lives.

A growth that’s no less than massive

Akshaya Patra has grown slowly and steadily. From 1,500 children a day to over 1.6 million children, the growth has been rising. It demonstrates that the role of NGO has always been aboard and determinant toward the goal of providing unlimited food for education. They’ve gone the extra mile, not only in well-managed technology, logistics, quality, and finance but also in strategies for sustainable working. The Foundation has gained trust of the philanthropic donors and beneficiaries as well.

Food for Education motivates children to pursue their dreams

Children from the marginalised sections of society often wait to pursue their dreams. Food for Education programmes help them in doing this. The blue buses at Akshaya Patra not only carry freshly cooked nutritious meals to 1.6 million children across India but also the smile and hope to get good food. Ambitious beneficiaries like Dashrath Chauhan, Anjali Batti, Saraswathi, and Chetan are some of our much prized stories of hope.

Involvement of public

It is essential for a public-private relationship based organisation to have provisions for public’s involvement. Without the generous help from well-wishers, it is not possible for an NGO to function at all. These organisations act as a medium for the society to show compassion towards the needy. Akshaya Patra provides several opportunities such as fundraising, campaigning, volunteering, partnering and donating online to get involved in this endeavor of eradicating undernourishment and ensuring access to education for all. For accomplishing its mission of feeding 5 million children by 2020, Akshaya Patra gives a shout-out to everyone who is willing to help those in dire need.

Akshaya Patra, an NGO based in Bengaluru, runs Mid-Day Meal Programme in 11 states of India.

To read in Hindi, visit: about NGO in Hindi.

L&T Infotech Teams Up With Akshaya Patra Foundation For Promoting Literacy.

L&T Infotech has teamed up with Akshaya Patra Foundation for supporting a noble cause for promoting literacy. The alliance aims to educate 10,000 children studying in 35 government schools in and around this city.

As part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by L&T Infotech, the company has proposed to sponsor mid-day meals of these children and provide a conveyance to bring the cooked food to the schools in a timely manner.

“The primary objective of this alliance is to encourage high school attendance, surge national literacy rates, decrease dropout rates and also to ensure that the children are well-nourished,” said Shridhar Venkat, CEO of Akshaya Patra. Further to this, the companies have signed an official memorandum of understanding (MOU) towards fulfilling the initiative. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO which runs the Mid-Day Meal Programme for Government and Government-aided school children.

Education is Everybody’s Right

On one particular day in 1948, during the aftermath of World War II, United Nations (UN) set a milestone. The UN published Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a set of fundaments that provide equal opportunity for all – that were to be followed by all nations and all people. On this historic day, a decision was made which would help countries achieve peace in many aspects. About 48 countries, including India, voted in favour of the declaration. Here’s Akshaya Patra’s message on Human Rights Day observed across the globe.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, children’s charity in India, would like to particularly focus on Article 26 of Universal Declaration which declares education as a right. This children’s NGO began its programme to feed the hungry children in schools (students of government and government-aided schools) to encourage them to continue education. As a trust, the organisation focuses on two United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger and Quality Education.

In India, the National Human Rights Commission put forth its covenants only by the end of 20th century; more than 40 years after UN declared human rights articles. Today, these clauses are the voices of many whose lives are not liberated; trapped by unemployment, low or zero income, and other socio-economic issues. Akshaya Patra, with a vision that no child should be deprived of education because of hunger, strengthens many such families by providing mid-day meals to their children. 

Education is everybody’s right - Article 26 in Universal Declaration states:

• Everyone has the right to education
• Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages
• Elementary education shall be compulsory

As it states, India - a developing nation, dreams of achieving 100% literacy rate in the coming years. But to achieve this, many NGOs alike and citizens must come forward to build a nation in a sustainable manner.

Mid-day meal by Akshaya Patra is a promise for every student that they will not sit in a classroom with an empty stomach. Hunger or half-hunger has made many children resort to other choices. But they deserve to be given a fair chance to study and be successful. These children have dreams – to be a doctor, to be a police officer, to be a teacher and many more. Supporting these dreams through education and nutritious mid-day meals will help them achieve their dreams.

Today, as we draw closer to Human Rights Day, let us stand up for someone’s rights. Together, we can achieve peace, development, and universal education. Sponsor a child today to gift them an uninterrupted education. You can also choose to donate for education in India and support a child’s dream.

Why Should We Make Children Our Priority?

What do some of the top NGOs in India have in common? Children happen to be their priority. They are working in the field of child development through education, food, shelter and health. Akshaya Patra’s top priority is to reach more school children each day with nutritious food which, in turn, would encourage the kids come to school regularly.

When it comes to children, we think like parents. We make children our priority and single point of motivation while working. This Children’s Day, how can parents make children their priority?

Teach by example 

When you make children your priority, you want to teach them right. No lesson goes down deeply into the soul better than the one lived as an example. It is a way of treating our children with love and respect. At Akshaya Patra, we treat children with nutritious meals to ensure they are healthy and are encouraged to attend school. Be it in Bangalore or other parts of India, our staff understand that being part of a top NGO for children would mean being more sensitive and mindful around children. While serving the Mid-Day Meals, our staff ensures that they treat children with respect, serve the food appropriately and set an example of respecting meals.

Character development 

As Dr Haim Ginott put it, “Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them, makes an impression.” We need to realise how vital it is to focus on the character development of children. We must see children as adults-in-the-making. Gently inculcating qualities of mutual respect, honouring others goes a long way in the development of a child’s character. Our experience as a child NGO in Bangalore helps us remember that children – be it in tech-savvy cities like or newly developed ones – are the same.

Smart discipline 

Today’s children have more access to information through technology. That coupled with their inherent sense of observation and imitation, makes discipline a challenging task. Yet, when teachers at schools and parents at home, gently carry out their responsibilities well, children are able to prioritise in life better and become more disciplined. Chetan, a beneficiary of our Mid-Day Meal Scheme run in association with the government, is someone who has benefitted from good discipline. He aspires to be an architect since he got the chance to watch a certain television programme about architects. He loves learning Marathi which is also his mother tongue. When we make children our priority, we are able to find smarter ways of inculcating discipline in them. 

Join hands in the cause

You may or may not be a parent, but you do realise that children are the future society. You may choose to join our cause of bringing children closer to school education by providing Mid-Day Meals in schools with the help of the government of India. We have so far served 2.12 billion meals to school children and this has been made possible with the support of our generous donors. As a donor, you also get a few tax benefits in 80G deduction or carrying out CSR activities. As a top NGO in bringing ‘Food for education’, Akshaya Patra aims at reaching every child in India with nutritious meal and education. Join hands with us today.